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Hate movie spoilers? Good! You'll get straight to the point, quick, and spoiler-free movie reviews to help you spend your time and money wisely on movies. I'll give you the Good, the Bad, the Reason, and the Rating about each movie. ***Please disable any popup blockers***

Friday, July 15, 2016

Ghostbusters Movie Review (2016)

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The Trailer:

YouTube Review:

The Good:

The chemistry between the characters stands out throughout the
film. They each are able to have their own identity and comedic style for the
entire movie. Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy delivered the same
performances as we’d expect, but the more interesting characters were probably
that of Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones.

McKinnon was so weird, but in a good and funny way. She easily had
one of the best scenes and almost steals the movie. Her role as the engineer
was by far the most intriguing. Even for Ghostbuster fans who consider
themselves purists, her ingenuity with various gadgets was a wonderful upgrade
to the Ghostbusters overall.

Leslie Jones slightly exceeded my expectations. What I personally
appreciated was how she didn’t completely fall victim to playing a generic
stereotype. Matter of fact, I think she had the most normal reactions to some
of the crazy situations the Ghostbusters faced. Best of all, I really
appreciated how they highlighted that she was more than just a transit employee
that knew about New York City. She was incredibly valuable and resourceful to
the team.

The plot felt a bit stitched together, but it’s not like
Ghostbusters is known for its deep story-lines. I think that the film overall
did a nice job of paying homage with the numerous nods to the previous the
previous film. You’ll get more than enough nods to the previous Ghostbusters
films. You can probably also tell from the trailers that this film has some
nice special effects. The visuals were definitely a sight to see as they keep
your attention whenever a ghost is on the screen.

The Bad:

For the entire duration of the movie, I struggled to figure out
what tone this movie was trying to have. The film felt like it had two
different halves. The first half was nice, subtle humor. The second half seemed
to try and juggle a sense of urgency and corny goofiness. For many instances,
for me, the goofiness was a little distracting.

I won’t say who, but many of the cameos in this film just never
really felt natural. They felt like they were just randomly thrown in just for
the sake of seeing a familiar face. The cameos just felt misplaced and
sometimes forced. My biggest issue with this film was not that it was a reboot
or remake. Rather my issue was that this film could’ve simply just been a warm
hand-off from the old Ghostbusters. This film erases the previous movies, but
still tries to tap into the previous films by doing various things to call back
them.

Given the fact that some of the characters are from Saturday Night
Live, you almost get a sense that they tap into that same comedic style. Now
for some people, that may be fine, but for me, it’s problematic. Just like in
Saturday Night Live, some of the jokes in this Ghostbusters were just milked a
little too long for me. After the fourth or fifth time of seeing that funny
thing, it starts to lose its’ punch. For me, the movie’s jokes were
chuckle-worthy, but not laugh out loud funny.

The Reason:

So it’s not breaking news that there’s been a lot of controversy
surrounding this film. I was one of many people who were somewhere on the fence
about it. So I came in with low expectations and an open mind. The movie was
not “trash” nor was it “great”, in my opinion. It was “digestible”. In other
words, it wasn’t black liquorish, nor was it a Snickers Bar. It was just a
peanut. Yes, a peanut. Why a peanut? Because peanuts aren’t really bad.
However, when you think of the rampant hate by some Internet people who vowed
to never see this movie, you’d think they’d avoid this movie like they had a
peanut allergy. (See what I did there?)

Anyway, I’ve always said that comedies are one of the most
subjective movie genres to critique. What’s funny to me may not be funny to
you, and vice-versa. While some people were in my theater were laughing out
loud, myself and others were just smiling for a long time.

At the end of the day, trust your gut on this one. If you’re
livid about this movie then don’t bother. Chances are you may just nitpick the
movie anyway. For those who are on the fence, I'd just say that it’s
not as bad as it was made out to be by the people who didn’t even see it. I
could see how this would be funny for some people, but it was just okay, for
me. If you’re curious about it, I’d say give it a shot and make up your mind.
If you’re a fan of director Paul Feig’s work (Bridesmaids, Spy, The Heat) then
this is right up your alley. I also wouldn't recommend it for small children because some of the ghosts may actually be a little too scary for them. Be sure to stay till the very end of the credits
for an end credit scene.